Did the Miami Heat Trade Too Much For Giannis?

All right.

Last thing I want to hit you on is the Milwaukee or the Miami Heat rather, who have now taken the Milwaukee Bucks' best player in Gianin Deopo.

And now that the celebration has kind of settled down in Miami, it, it's time to take kind of an objective look at what we've got here.

Um, you've got Bam Adebayo.

And Giannisan Deopo in the front court, front court as I look at this depth chart.

Then you're going down.

You got Andrew Wiggins who they're going to bring back some way, somehow at small forward.

Norman Powell, who they're going to try to bring back at the two guard.

Daveon Mitchell is penciled in as the starting point guard.

The bench, Drew Smith, Ryan Conwell, Pe Larson, Bobby Portis backing up multiple positions in that front court.

Um, and that's kind of it.

Uh, Simone Fonteccio is still there.

Nikola Jovich is still there if they still like him.

Um, when you look at this Miami roster, now that Giannis is on it, Where would you place them in the, the hierarchy of the Eastern Conference?

The game before the play in probably.

Right I, I just don't, I, I, I just don't see them have enough firepower offensively.

I think defensively they'd be great.

I think, you know, Daveon Mitchell will be better coming off the bench for uh, A point guard with a, with a little bit of possess.

Uh, I love Norman Powell's game.

I believe Andrew Wiggins and both Norman Powell have played.

Well and significant over the past couple of years to show that they can make an impact, but You have to rely on, I know they love Pelle Larson, you have to rely on Pelle Larson being able to develop.

I know they got the new point guard in, you know, Conwell or whatever, but I don't, I, I didn't really see, I thought they gave up too much, you know, I, I think losing Tyler Herro or just being able to get 23 points and 6 assists was an insurance card for them considering the fact that like they were kind of playing with With more so force and finesse over these past couple of years.

And um Like I said, you gotta have a unique team to play around Giannis.

In order for Giannis to be great, you almost have to have a 4 out 1 in.

I know Bam Adebayo has developed his corner 3 point.

He's, he's been able to space the floor over the past couple of years, but In order to have these championship aspirations, you got, that Milwaukee Bucks team from back in the day was a very great team due to the fact that they played error-free basketball with Giannis.

Like you, you had to damn near shoot it when he passed it to you and make the right type of plays in that situation.

And I just don't, I don't see them.

I don't see them making a crazy splash.

I think if they ran into Detroit or ran into a team like Orlando where matchups matter, we thought Detroit or Orlando, it would be a far off series, but they went 7 games because like boxing matchup matters and you have a team that can meet you with that type of physicality and hit you just as hard or hit you first.

Now it rely, makes you rely on the last thing that matters, which your skill set and who's better, who's the best player, and I think in those type of situations, In those moments, you don't have a Kate Cunningham that gets you over the top with the IQ, the, the, the ball handling, and to be able to kill you from three levels of the floor.

Giannis is great.

I could probably be forgetting the greatness of Giannis.

I just I just don't see that bully ball shit happening with another bully in the paint.

Uh, I think they have the potential to be an elite defensive team.

Like you said, Bam is one of the best defensive bigs in the NBA.

Giannis, one of the best defensive bigs in the NBA.

Daveon Mitchell, one of the better defensive guards in the NBA.

Wiggins can still give you some decent defense.

And hey, Norman Powell, the Clippers' defense.

At least early last season collapsed without him as part of that rotation.

So I think they can be a really stingy defense, but I agree with you.

Where is the offense coming from?

Where is the shooting coming from?

Uh, Bam Adebayo shot 32% from 3 last year.

Gianniston Deopo shot like 33, but the last like 4 years, he has just abandoned the shot.

He's averaged like 13 per game over the last 4 seasons.

So he, he's just not even trying anymore.

You know, a lot of guys, you see their game evolve, like they expand it, they go beyond the three-point line.

It's like in 2022, Giannis just said, screw it.

I'm just gonna be me and not be a perimeter shooter.

So you've got two bigs, neither of Which are three-point threats.

Daveon Mitchell is not, uh, not a three-point threat.

Powell is, Wiggins, I guess, can be, but you're going to see teams defend this team like they're, I mean, there's going to be a shell in that paint.

You're, you're gonna have a tough time penetrating that shell if you're Giannis or Bam unless somebody out there is, is creating offense.

That is going to be an enormous challenge for Erik Spoelstra.

Design, I mean, obviously, the offense they ran last year, whatever.

Who the hell that was.

They're gonna throw that one out the door and, and come up with something new.

But that, you don't, you, you can't build a robust offense in the NBA without spacing and they don't have it.

Like they just don't have it.

So, I don't know .

Maybe some of these bench guys will step up, become the four spacers that they need, but I, right now, I don't see it.

Right now, I've still got them behind the Knicks, obviously, behind the Pistons.

Might even have, have them behind the Magic.

I think the coaching change in Orlando is gonna make that team significantly better.

Um, Philadelphia, we'll see what happens with MB, knock on wood, is, is healthy.

I think they're kind of a middle of the pack team right now going into next season.

Yeah, and I just think they're one step.

They still have to make more, more.

More draft, uh, more, more trades at deadline, try to get stronger at the, uh, you know, at, yeah, but with what, with what they gave it all away, yeah, no, you're absolutely right.

Nothing like even when you brought up the guy Drew, it's like, bro, he's been hurt the past 3 or 4 years, you know what I'm saying, like in and out the health, the health hasn't been great, um.

You have to rely a lot on your bench players, so you see, I mean, they gave up Jami Haquez, Tyler, like this would have been a great team with the others.

Like that's why I give Brad Stevens credit cause it's like, bro, I can't give you.

All these, anything, because what else will we have?

These two rich guys that probably eventually quit halfway through the season because our team sucks.

You know what I mean?

The, these deals, historically, or at least in recent history, they very rarely work.

Like when Brooklyn went all in for Pierson Garnett, that didn't work.

Um, more recently, when the Clippers went all in with, for to get Paul George, that didn't work.

More often than not, you're setting up the team you traded with, with the foundation for what's going to make them a contender 4 or 5 years from now.

And maybe the, I think the players they gave to Milwaukee are good but not great.

Hakez kind of is what he is.

He's probably, A good 4th or 5th option, 6th man type of guy.

I actually think, uh, Yakoonish, the point guard is gonna be pretty good.

I, I like him a lot.

I liked him coming out of Illinois.

I liked him a lot.

I think you give him the ball for 30 some odd minutes a game, he's gonna be a lot of fun to watch for sure.

Um, and the draft picks are down the line.

They're in the 2030s, so we'll see what happens with them.

I, I just, I get why Milwaukee did it.

Pat Riley ain't getting any younger.

They want to be relevant.

They want to be in the mix.

This is how Miami does their business, but unless they're able to pull some rabbits out of their hats with shooting, getting guys to sign their floor spacers, guys that can play, because we're gonna start doing that thing we do with like teams like this where it's like they get a guy.

On the free agent market for like a million dollars and we're like, wow, how was that guy available for like $1.5 million.

And then in January, we're like, oh yeah, that's why that guy was available for $1.5 million.

Like that's, that's always how it happens with teams that are built like this.

Uh, and the worst-case scenario is that Giannis can't stay on the court, on the court, and you're sinking even further and giving away your draft picks to other teams in the immediate future.

Yeah, I, I just think this is a short-sighted situation.

Shout out to Pat Riley.

I think, uh, this is a legacy move.

I brought Giannis to, you know what I mean?

I brought Giannis to Miami.

Um, like we said, even when it comes down to contracts, like, When you do these trades and guys sign for maxes, it, like you said, it's so hard to be able to make it work because there's no money left to go get real talent.

We look here now, like, I wanna be shot out to Milwaukee got in Miami next year.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like just off like the play, they have a better, uh, I wouldn't go that far, but overall a better skill set team.

But I, I just don't know how they're gonna put the ball in the basket.

I don't know, unless they just play stingy, stingy defense and, you know, turn it into a half-court game the whole night.

It's, it's gonna be a long year, especially when your two top players aren't.

I guess, I'm, I'm, I'm , I'm a point guard junkie, like I'm a guard junkie.

So, when we're sitting still and it's like, hey, you, your best playmakers are going to be 26, 11 individuals that started dribbling 6 years ago, it's crazy, you know.